Miramax has tapped French director Alexandre Aja (Horns, The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension) to direct psychological thriller The 9th Life Of Louis Drax, with Fifty Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan in the lead role. The adaptation of Liz Jensen’s bestselling novel follows young Louis Drax, who suffers a near-fatal fall on his ninth birthday. In order to reveal the strange circumstances surrounding the boy’s accident, Dr. Allan Pascal (Dornan) is drawn into a thrilling mystery, testing the boundaries of fantasy and reality.

The script is by actor Max Minghella, who makes his screenwriting debut and will produce alongside Tim Bricknell (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Breaking And Entering) of Antcolony Films, Shawn Williamson (The Interview, 50/50) of Brightlight Pictures, and Aja. Jensen’s book was first optioned in 2004 by Minghella’s father, the late writer-director Anthony Minghella, who had developed it with Sydney Pollack.

Irish actor Dornan last year landed his big break when he was cast as Christian Grey in Universal and Focus Features’ Fifty Shades Of Grey. The erotic lit adaptation hits screens February 13, 2015. Meanwhile, filming on The 9th Life Of Louis Drax is set to begin in October in Vancouver. That’ll make for a busy month for Aja, whose Daniel Radcliffe horror-fantasy starrer Horns, adapted from the novel by Joe Hill, hits theaters on Halloween. Aja also produced Gregory Levasseur’s horror-thriller The Pyramid which Fox will open December 5.

Dornan is repped by UTA and United Agents in the UK. Aja is a client of WME and Industry Entertainment. Minghella is repped by CAA and Anonymous Content.